Sat PM spent a wonderful couple of hours the the Antique Wireless
Asscn museum in East Bloomfield NY.

I came away with a couple of questions.

I had my hands on an operational R-390 for the first time. Quite
a radio! and I now understand the almost mystic reverence it inspires.
Question is...what contemporary solid state rigs deserve comparision ??
I realize lots of guys will want an oar in the water on this one.

I also fell in love with another radio. This happens from time
to time and mostly I ignore it. It wasn't the most beautiful radio in
the place (arguably the McMurdo Silver Masterpiece) but the rather plane
jane BC-348. What a chassis! and rather a lovely faceplate under the
ugly warpaint. Question is..how much would a guy have to pay to get
close to a reasonably un-murderified, decently operational, youngish BC-
348 *not* in rich collector restored condition ??



73 de kc2lvq

William Mutch wrote:

I had my hands on an operational R-390 for the first time. Quite
a radio! and I now understand the almost mystic reverence it inspires.
Question is...what contemporary solid state rigs deserve comparision ??
I realize lots of guys will want an oar in the water on this one.

Check out the current generation of Watkins-Johnson gear. Demodulation is
done with DSP, after digitizing the IF. Sensitivity is a little bit better
than the R-390, and selectivity is just as good as the Collins mechanical
filters, but with much less ringing and audible artifacts. Also there is
an optional panadaptor system that will identify modulation modes and
make some attempt at identifying signals, putting this information on the
screen beside each peak. Comparing the system with my R-390, it is definitely
a step up in convenience and sound quality although weak signal performance
really isn't any better. Probably available for under half a million bucks
although it may be considered a military supply item and require a lot of
paperwork.

There are some okay commercial communications receivers... check the front
section of the WRTH for some info. The big JRC unit is reasonable, though
not as clean as the R-390.

I also fell in love with another radio. This happens from time
to time and mostly I ignore it. It wasn't the most beautiful radio in
the place (arguably the McMurdo Silver Masterpiece) but the rather plane
jane BC-348. What a chassis! and rather a lovely faceplate under the
ugly warpaint. Question is..how much would a guy have to pay to get
close to a reasonably un-murderified, decently operational, youngish BC-
348 *not* in rich collector restored condition ??

I dunno, they used to be cheap hamfest junk that you couldn't give away a
decade ago. Great sounding audio too. Absolutely useless for weak signal
work, hardly usable for SSB and worthless in a pileup, but a great rig for
listening to strong commercial shortwave stations.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message Check out the current
generation of Watkins-Johnson gear. Demodulation is
done with DSP, after digitizing the IF. Sensitivity is a little bit
better
than the R-390, and selectivity is just as good as the Collins mechanical
filters, but with much less ringing and audible artifacts. Also there is
an optional panadaptor system that will identify modulation modes and
make some attempt at identifying signals, putting this information on the
screen beside each peak. Comparing the system with my R-390, it is
definitely
a step up in convenience and sound quality although weak signal
performance
really isn't any better. Probably available for under half a million
bucks
although it may be considered a military supply item and require a lot of
paperwork.

There are some okay commercial communications receivers... check the front
section of the WRTH for some info. The big JRC unit is reasonable, though
not as clean as the R-390.


The R-390 is also one of the quietest radios ever made. You get a lot of
bang for the buck with an R-390. I've heard stuff on the one I used to have
that the modern gear next to it struggled with. I would agree its the best
tube rig ever. I've made a couple hot rod SP-600s that were hard to beat
also.

I wouldn't go more than $150 on an average BC-348. There very common.
Scott's right about the performance. There just a fun little rig. There one
of the first BAs I worked on when I was a kid. You could pic em up at the
Army surplus for around $25
--
73 Brian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A lot of radios and 100' of rusty wire!
Brian's Radio Universe
http://webpages.charter.net/brianehill/

Brian Hill wrote:


The R-390 is also one of the quietest radios ever made. You get a lot of
bang for the buck with an R-390. I've heard stuff on the one I used to have
that the modern gear next to it struggled with. I would agree its the best
tube rig ever. I've made a couple hot rod SP-600s that were hard to beat
also.

That is where the weak signal performance comes from. It's not just the
extreme selectivity of the mechanical filters, it's also from the VERY
low noise PTO design. It's hard to match that with a modern PLL circuit.
It can be done... low phase noise PLL systems are out there... but it is
very expensive. Probably as expensive as the original Collins PTO was.

I wouldn't go more than $150 on an average BC-348. There very common.
Scott's right about the performance. There just a fun little rig. There one
of the first BAs I worked on when I was a kid. You could pic em up at the
Army surplus for around $25

If you want to listen to the BBC, though, they are hard to beat. Excellent
sound quality on shortwave.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message

If you want to listen to the BBC, though, they are hard to beat.
Excellent
sound quality on shortwave.
--scott

Yea they are easy to listen to.
--
73 Brian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A lot of radios and 100' of rusty wire!
Brian's Radio Universe
http://webpages.charter.net/brianehill/

Looks like the bug has bitten someone else!

Yes, both the R-390 and BC-348 are great radios. Actually you
are just scratching the surface here. There is the R-390A, which uses
mechanical Collins filters, the ART-13 which is a WWII era aircraft
transmitter, R-388 Collins, SP-600, on and on and on until you run out of
money! ;-)

My all time favorite radio for SW listening is the R-390 (non A).
As someone else here said, its got an amazingly low internal noise
level, and a bit better sensitivity then the "A". I also have an FRG-7
which is really a very nice solid state SW receiver for the price.

Get one and fix it up. A BC-348 should be relatively easy to find in
unmolested condition.

Steve W6SSP


William Mutch wrote in message
ell.edu...
Sat PM spent a wonderful couple of hours the the Antique Wireless
Asscn museum in East Bloomfield NY.

I came away with a couple of questions.

I had my hands on an operational R-390 for the first time. Quite
a radio! and I now understand the almost mystic reverence it inspires.
Question is...what contemporary solid state rigs deserve comparision ??
I realize lots of guys will want an oar in the water on this one.

I also fell in love with another radio. This happens from time
to time and mostly I ignore it. It wasn't the most beautiful radio in
the place (arguably the McMurdo Silver Masterpiece) but the rather plane
jane BC-348. What a chassis! and rather a lovely faceplate under the
ugly warpaint. Question is..how much would a guy have to pay to get
close to a reasonably un-murderified, decently operational, youngish BC-
348 *not* in rich collector restored condition ??



73 de kc2lvq